Chapter 301

THIRD PERSON’S POV Kael moved fast, his body a shadow among shadows. The fortress corridors stretched before him, every stone whispering danger. He retraced his steps with practiced ease, but this time his pulse was hammering in his ears—the memory of Draven’s searching gaze too fresh, too close. Halfway down the outer hall, a pair of guards turned the corner unexpectedly. Kael froze, pressing into the stone. For a heartbeat he thought he’d been seen. “Did you hear something?” one muttered, squinting toward the darkness. “Rats,” the other grunted. “This old place is crawling with them.” Kael waited until their boots clattered past, then slipped behind them, steps as soft as falling ash. He scaled the outer wall the same way he had entered, fingers finding every familiar groove, his breath shallow. By the time Kael dropped into the forest beyond the fortress, his chest was slick with sweat. He didn’t let himself stop running until the black outline of Draven’s walls was swallowed by the